Emergency Card prompts early contact

A new 111 emergency card for ethnic communities is encouraging migrants and refugees to take the often bold step of calling for help if they need it.

In September, Palmerston North Police, Fire, St John’s and Mayor Heather Tanguay launched the initiative which includes a pocket-sized card detailing what to do in an emergency.

“It’s about going to the various migrant and ethnic communities and being proactive and saying ‘we really need to hear from you if you have issues’,” says Inspector Pat Handcock.

Pat says experience around the world shows organised crime can grow a life of its own in migrant communities where there is limited trust in police.

“They don’t report information that really should be passed on to police and they don’t report they have been victimised.”

“It’s about building trust and confidence from the outset,” says Pat. “We have very good relationships with the communities, so if we need to go to them we have a very good contact tree.”

In order to maintain contact, Palmerston North is looking to assign an officer as an ongoing contact person for the larger ethnic communities.

“It will be a part-time portfolio for staff to make sure the door is always open in terms of communication and to represent Police at various ethnic celebrations and functions," Pat says.